Should the Twins Have Cashed In on Joe Ryan and Pablo López?

With the odds of the Twins making the postseason shrinking by the day, we’re left with plenty of opportunities to reflect on the season that was and, more importantly, what could have been.

Yet another season without playoff baseball makes it easy to look back at all of the things the Twins should’ve done differently. There are plenty of decisions that can be debated, from roster construction to the trade deadline, but in the Twins’ case specifically, I think there’s a pretty compelling argument that Derek Falvey missed an opportunity to reshape the organization.

And two names immediately come to mind: Joe Ryan and Pablo López.

Let’s go back to this past offseason. There was plenty of buzz that Falvey and the Twins could be forced into dealing one or both of their veteran starters as the organization looked to reshape the roster and potentially cut payroll. As it turns out, neither one was moved. Hindsight is always 20/20, of course, but I think Falvey missed out by not moving on from at least one of them before the season started.

And that’s especially easy for me to say because I was of that belief at the time as well. I thought Ryan, in particular, was a pitcher the Twins should seriously consider moving while his value was at its highest. López was a little more complicated, but there was still a window to make something happen. Now, that window looks considerably smaller.

The Pablo López Problem

López’s situation is obviously a little different because he suffered a season-ending elbow injury in February, just before the season began. There’s no way the Twins could have known that was coming.

But they still had November, December, and January to explore a potential trade. López was healthy at the time, and while his contract certainly limited the number of teams that could have been interested, he was still a proven starting pitcher who had been one of the better members of the Twins’ rotation. Instead, Falvey and the Twins held onto him, and now his trade value has taken a massive hit. López is coming off elbow surgery, missed the entire 2026 season and is entering a contract year in 2027. Even if he returns healthy and pitches well next season, there’s no guarantee he gets back to where he was pre-injury. That puts the organization in a somewhat awkward position.

If the Twins genuinely believe they can make a run at the postseason next year, then you probably want López in your rotation. A healthy version of him could be a major part of a competitive pitching staff. But if the Twins don’t win with him in 2027, that’s going to be a pretty bad look.

Falvey had an opportunity to move López when his value was much higher, chose not to, and now Jeremy Zoll’s front office could potentially be stuck with the consequences of that decision. There’s still a chance López comes back and proves to be an important piece, but the opportunity to maximize his value has almost certainly passed.

Ryan Was Different

I think the same general argument can be made for Joe Ryan, only with even more conviction.

I was of the belief that the Twins should’ve traded Ryan before the season, and I felt even more strongly about it when the trade deadline rolled around. Unlike López, there would have been a very active market for Ryan. He was healthy, he was pitching at a high level, and, like López, he was under team control for multiple seasons. That combination is incredibly valuable in today’s game. Contenders are constantly searching for starting pitching, but controllable frontline starters are especially difficult to find. A team acquiring Ryan wouldn’t have just been getting a rental for the stretch run. They would have been getting a quality starter who could remain in the rotation for years. That should have put the Twins in an excellent position to demand a significant return. Instead, Falvey kept him.

And again, hindsight is always 20/20. The Twins probably believed they could still make a postseason push. Maybe they believed Ryan was too important to the future of the organization to move. Maybe the offers simply weren’t good enough. But looking at where things stand now, it’s fair to ask what exactly the Twins gained by keeping him.

They aren’t a playoff team WITH Ryan. If the goal was to compete this season, that plan clearly didn’t work. And if the goal was to build toward the future, it’s difficult to argue that keeping Ryan was the best way to maximize the organization’s long-term return. That’s ultimately what makes the decision, to me, extra frustrating. Ryan was the most valuable trade chip on the entire roster, and Falvey had multiple opportunities to cash in on him. He chose not to.

The Pressure Is On

There’s still a path where all of this works out for the Twins. If they believe they can make a serious run in the American League next season, having both Ryan and López in the rotation would obviously be a good thing. Quality starting pitching is difficult to find, and there’s no reason to pretend otherwise. But that puts an awful lot of pressure on 2027.

Both pitchers are entering contract years, and both now have less trade value than they did when the Twins had the opportunity to move them. If the Twins make the playoffs next season and Ryan and López help lead the rotation there, nobody will care about the trades that weren’t made. If they fall short again, however, those decisions are going to be scrutinized heavily. And that’s where this ultimately becomes less about Ryan and López and more about Falvey.

Maybe Ryan and López will ultimately prove that decision was the right one. But if the Twins fall short again in 2027, it’s going to be awfully difficult to look back at these past two seasons and say Falvey maximized the opportunities in front of him. Sometimes building for the future means knowing when to move on from the players who can bring the biggest return. The Twins had that opportunity, and they might not get another one.

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